Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

La Belle, Florida 33935
Tuesady, August 13, 2002 10:10 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot stated that he was conducting a long solo cross-country flight, proceeding east to La Belle, Florida, and while en route the airplane's engine started to sound as if it was "back-firing, missing, or a combination of the two." He stated that engine power decreased, but all gages exhibited normal indications. As he tried advancing the throttle to increase engine power in an attempt to maintain altitude, he said the engine performed worse. He said he was afraid he would blow the engine over an unsuitable landing area, so he veered north to follow Highway 80 in case the engine ceased operating. As he followed the highway he said the airplane continued to loose altitude, and he opted to make a landing on a straight portion of Highway 80, about 2 miles west of La Belle, Florida. He said he chose to land on the north berm of the highway and during touchdown the airplane skipped and started skidding. The right wing impacted a palm tree and spun the airplane around causing substantial damage. The student stated that he never applied carburetor heat, or even considered applying carburetor heat because the loss of power he was experiencing was not what he had associated with carburetor ice. He stated that he had come to expect a steady loss of engine power, rather than the engine back firing and missing as had happened. After recovery, the engine was examined by an FAA licensed airframe and powerplant mechanic, with an inspection authorization rating, and no anomalies were noted. The mechanic stated that during the examination there was good compression on all cylinders, and during test runs, the engine developed power normally. According to the carburetor icing chart, conditions were conductive to the formation of visible icing while the airplane was being operated at glide and cruise power settings.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's improper in-flight planning and failure to use carburetor heat while conditions existed that were conductive to carburetor icing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/13/2002
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1010
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City La Belle
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33935
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 264439N
Event Location Longitude 0812557W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 953 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID FMY
Elevation of weather observation facility 18
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 25
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.1
Density Altitude (feet) 1500
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15332
NTSB Notification Source FAA ATL Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Aug 13 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1034
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 28 2004 3:34PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N704TJ
NTSB Number MIA02LA149
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 150M
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15078858
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jul 7 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 29
Airframe Hours 9735
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name I & E Aircraft Rental Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. Box 1361
Aircraft Owner City Lehigh Acres
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33970
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code FMY
Departure City Ft. Myers
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1000
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code X14
Destination City Labelle
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise - normal
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Mar 2 2004 9:06AM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --